Amphion Selects Synplicity Synthesis for FPGA Intellectual Property Development
Companies to Optimize FPGA Design Flow for Amphion's IP Customers
BELFAST, N. Ireland & SUNNYVALE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 18,
2001--Amphion Semiconductor Ltd., the leading provider of
semiconductor intellectual-property for multimedia, data security,
wireless and broadband communications, and Synplicity Inc.
(Nasdaq:SYNP - news), a leading supplier of software for the design and
verification of semiconductors, today announced Amphion has chosen
Synplicity's Synplify Pro® software as the tool-of-choice to develop
intellectual property (IP) cores specifically targeted for FPGA
applications. The two companies will cooperate to define and produce
an optimized design flow to support customers using Amphion's
application-specific cores for FPGAs. The companies also announced
that Amphion has enrolled in Synplicity's Strategic Access Program as
a preferred IP partner.
"At a time when the programmable logic design community is
increasingly turning to hardware accelerator IP in order to meet
system performance requirements, it is vital that the design flow be
optimized to provide the best quality of results," commented Steve
Farson, vice president of engineering at Amphion. "We have been
impressed with the quality of results we've received using
Synplicity's Synplify Pro software. Inserting this software into our
development process will help strengthen Amphion's delivery of the
world-class cores our customers depend on."
Andy Haines, vice president of marketing at Synplicity, added,
"More and more, our customers are using IP cores to take advantage of
the high-density FPGA devices that have been emerging over the past
few years. We are pleased that Amphion has chosen our Synplify Pro
product for its IP development. This new partnership is consistent
with our strategy to provide synthesis technology at both the
development and implementation stages of IP use. We believe the
combination of our two technologies will enable our mutual customers
to achieve high-performance results for their FPGA designs."
Under terms of this joint marketing and development agreement,
Amphion will provide its customers with Synplicity Synthesis
Constraints for soft (RTL) IP cores and static timing models in
Synplicity's TCL format for firm (gate-level) IP cores. Using these
optimized constraints and timing models with the Synplify Pro
software, customers should be able to quickly and easily implement
Amphion cores into FPGAs from leading vendors.
Synplicity's Strategic Access Partner Program for IP Vendors
Through its Strategic Access Partner Program, Synplicity works
very closely with vendors who generate intellectual property designs
for programmable logic to ensure compatibility and verification of
Synplicity's synthesis timing model with IP. These close
partnerships allow users of the Synplify® solution to obtain much
better optimized designs when instantiating IP from these vendors for
larger scale programmable logic designs and provides users of the
Synplify software with a broad range of better qualified IP.
About Synplicity
Synplicity Inc. (Nasdaq:SYNP - news) is a leading provider of software
products that enable the rapid and effective design and verification
of semiconductors used in next-generation communications, computer,
consumer and military/aerospace electronics systems. The company
leverages its innovative logic synthesis, physical synthesis and
verification software solutions to improve performance and shorten
development time for complex programmable logic devices, application
specific integrated circuits (ASICs) and system-on-chip (SoC)
integrated circuits. Recognizing the company's industry-leading
position, Dataquest named Synplicity as the No. 1 provider of PLD
synthesis tools in 2000 with 45 percent market share. Synplicity's
fast, easy-to-use products offer high quality of results, support
industry-standard design languages (VHDL and Verilog) and run on
popular platforms. As of September 30, 2001, Synplicity employed 265
people in its 16 facilities worldwide. Synplicity is headquartered in
Sunnyvale, Calif. For more information on Synplicity, visit:
http://www.synplicity.com.
About Amphion
Amphion is the leading supplier of application-specific cores for
IP-based System-on-a-Chip (SoC) integrated circuit designs for
multimedia, data security, wireless and broadband communications.
Amphion delivers high-performance solutions for video and image
compression, advanced encryption, and speech and channel coding with a
comprehensive range of silicon-optimized products. Using proprietary
techniques for the direct-mapping of processing functions and
algorithms into hardware, Amphion develops and licenses semiconductor
intellectual-property (SIP) cores that are close to optimal in terms
of performance and power dissipation -- typically 1000x better than
competing solutions. Amphion cores operate standalone, or by direct
interface to industry-standard RISC and DSP processors, and can be
easily migrated through different generations of fabrication
technology, thus preserving engineering investments in SoC design.
Amphion is a privately-held company with corporate headquarters and
engineering in Belfast, Northern Ireland, UK and worldwide sales and
marketing headquarters in San Jose, California, USA. Amphion was
formerly known as Integrated Silicon Systems Ltd, or ISS. For more
information, visit http://www.amphion.com.
Forward-Looking Statement
The joint development efforts with third parties as described in
this press release remain at the sole discretion of Synplicity, Inc.
and no warranty is made as to whether the intended effects or success
of joint development efforts with third parties will occur as
described or forecast in the press release.
Note to Editors: Synplicity, Synplify Pro and Synplify are
registered trademarks of Synplicity, Inc. Amphion, The Amphion logo,
and "Virtual Components for the Converging World" are trademarks of
Amphion Semiconductor Ltd. All other brand names or product names are
trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.
Synplicity tools and technical support supplied to Amphion by ALT
Technologies, (Basingstoke, Hampshire) UK.
Contact:
Tsantes & Associates/Porter Novelli
Steve Gabriel, 408/369-1500
steve@tsantes.com
or
Amphion Semiconductor
David Mann, 44 (0) 28 9050-4040
dmann@amphion.com
